Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

ZAGAT LOOKS FOR POTENTIAL BUYER

Zagat Survey LLC, the well-known restaurant guide publisher, has hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. to look into a potential buyer, the company announced yesterday.

Founded in 1979 by husband and wife team Tim and Nina Zagat, the company has grown from a hobby of collecting ratings for restaurants into a major international publisher of guides on restaurants, travel, nightlife and shopping.

Details about a price range or the company's financial data were not released and the company reported that in February 2000, investors including General Atlantic LLC, Allen & Co. and former Microsoft Corp. executive Nathan Myhrvold all bought stakes of undisclosed size in Zagat.

Zagat's online presence is mostly reserved for subscribers, and the company has had to compete with several free websites offering restaurant information including Yelp.com, Citysearch and MenuPages.com.